Collapsible hogshead.



J. H. GORMAN. GOLLAPSIBLE HOGSHBAD.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1913..

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

'IHE NORRIS PETERS 60v. PHOTO-L1 Y'HQ, WASHINGTON, u. z..

J. H. GORMAN.

CDLLAPSIBLE HOGSHEAD.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1913.

1,112,001 Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

IET-l- OOOOO'QOOOOQOOOOOOQOO000000000000 Witnesses 4/ THI; NORRIS PETERS c0 PHOTO LITHQ, WASH/Nam". n. c

J. H. GURMAN.

GOLLAPSIBLE HOGSHEAD.

APPLICATION FILED MAY16, 1913.

1, 1 1 2,001 Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3. Balm- 1D Z O I I O O THE NORRIS PETERS 1:0,. PHoro-LlrHQ, wAsunvsroN. u, r

J. H. GORMAN.

GOLLAPSIBLE HOGSHEAD.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1913.

1 1 1 2,001 Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4. Emlfz- Ema-.15-

mm with Mamas art faxing HE Nom 1 HHYERS cu. PHOlO-L/THO \VAS'HINGTON D. C.

JOHN H. GORMAN, or snmsiaumz, nesmemdmma f oo ArsIBLE IIIOIGSHEAD.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented SePtiZQ, 1914. application filed m 16,1913. s r al No. 768,046. g j 1 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. GoR uAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salisbury, in the State of North Carolina; have invented certain'new and usefuhlmprovements in Collapsible Hogsheads, of

i which the following is a description;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of he hogshead completeand erected; Figs. 2, 3,4 and 5 detail views of the manner of applying and fastening the hoops; Fig. 6 adetail'perf spective View of a cam lever employed to connect the adjacent ends of the. hoops; Figs. 7 S and9 detail views of. thehogshead collapsed, ready for storing and shipping, Fig. 9 being a sectional view taken on the line 99 of Fig. 7; Figs. 10 and llflde tail views showing the folding bottom or lower head of the hogshead; Fig. 12 a detail perspective view of one of the supporting stopsfor thebottom; Figs. 13' to18, inolusive, detail views oftheexpanding head. j

The object of this invention to so; con struct the hogshead that it may be readily assembled or erected and also readily disassembled or collapsed at the place of unpacking, the parts in their collapsed or dis assembled condition being brought together in such a manner as to occupy but a small space and therefore permit them to be .con-I veniently stored or shipped, as more fully and hereinafter set forth. a i

The body consists of the usual staveso, and a pair of special staves b. Theusual staves a are fastened together at their up per and lower ends by pairs of hoops 0, these staves being fastened together in .two' halves or groups which, together with the special staves b, constitute the vertical wall of the hogshead. h

At one side of the hogshead the ends of the hoops are connected to short straps d by vertical links 6 and said straps d1 are rigidly secured to theintermediatespacing stave b. The inner corners of the special or spacing staves Z) are beveled ofi' ate, and the adjacent corners of the adjacent main staves a are beveled off at f, for the purposehereinafter set forth. j I i At the side of the hogshead diametrically opposite to the link connectionsfe the spacing stave Z2 is hingedly connected to the respective pairs of hoops c, by links 9, and h. The links 9 connect the ends of the hoops c to short straps or plates 7'. fastened to the spacing. stave I), while the links 72. connectthe other pair of hoops c to said spacing stave b .through themedium ofa swinging. lever .y'

pivotally mounte'd on the said short straps i.

g .The levers j and links h are for thepurpose of. permitting the enlargement. of the diameter of the stave structure. Each link it consistsof a vertical bar Z0, which ispivoted in loopslformed in the ends of hoops 0,. and lateral .arInsZ connected to the ends of. said verticalbarfk, and being connected at. their outer ends by a bent bar m... Midwaythe length of the bar on said bar passes through a vertical slot at in the lever j, and. the inner. end ofthe lever jisprovided-with oppositely projecting pins 0' which are piv- Q otallymounted in loops formedat the ends of the short straps z. *Theslot n is closed at both ends. "It: will be'u observed: that by swinging the lever j outwardly on its pivots 0 a space-will be formed between the spacing stave b and the adjacentmainstave a, thus enlarging or expanding thestave structure to the: extent of said space. When the le-f vers j are swung inwardly, that is, toward the face of the spacing stave, b, the stave adjacent to the said spacing stave is brought close up to the adj acent'edge of the spacing stave 6, thus closing the stave structure.

" lThe bottom of the hogshead-consists: of

twosemi-circular sections p,pivotally con" nected together along their. straight edges byhinges g,wh0se pintles'r are arranged. at the under side of the bottom so as topermit the bottom sections to swing inwardly in collapsing. The two fsemi circular sections are connected by means of. link hingess to the adjacent inner facesof the stave structure. Spanning thejoint between the two sections of the bottomarea series of cleats 15, each of these cleats'having one of its ends connected rigidly to one of the sections of the bottom, and its other end free from the opposite bottom section. In the drawinggl have illustrated the middle cleat as being rigidly attached to the right-hand section of the bottom and freefrorn the lefthandseo tion, whiletheother two cleats arearranged ireversely. When the bottom is in position for packing,,it rests upon a series of 'n- 'wardly projecting lugs u,-suitably fastened to the main staves a.

' The head of the hogsheadl is constructed a so as to be expanded and contracted circumferentially, and it will be understood that it wiswithin the scope of my invention to use 7 any form of head adapted to thus expand.

and contract. In'the form of head I have illustrated, I

employ four sectors a and a series of four radial wedges these wedges tapering from the center .to the rim of the head and abutting against the correspondingly inclined adjacent edges of the sectors a; l t ith this construction, it i will be observed that by forcing-thewedges outwardly ina radialdirection, the sectors or segments a,

will be: forced: outwardlyand thus increase thediameter of the'head, whileby drawing the wedgesuinwardly, the. sectors will be si'de: of. the head;

free to moveinwardl-y-to, thus contract the head. i I

Toconnect the-wedges and: the sectors. and.

to simultaneously move them inwardly and outwardly, Ipreferemploying the following devices: Each sector and each wedge is guided in its radialmovements 'bymeans ofslots of and 1311186, the. latter beingrigidly carried-by a .diskcf: located on the under Rotatably mounted in any-i suitahle. manneron, the diskcis a top disk 7, aflsuitabl'er angular part9 being provided for. the application of. a wrench for retating-thedisk f ineither direction.

Depending from the underside of the disk f is a series of1pins...h,. eachof which works in; aslot'c" at the. inner end of one of the sitely'n. projecting lugs overlapping each' other. Each :ofthe. pins is attached to ,wedges 6'. Each. slot'z" isformed in a casting rigidly fastened on theinnerend of the behindeachone of the pins 70, these oppoits sectoru by means of ashank Z which is carried by a metal .plate:mfastened to the inneredgeofthe sector; It will be observed that .with' this arrangement of devices, the-turning of the. diskf in one direction will cause the Wedges to. force-the 55o,

sectors outwardly, while by turning the disk in'the, opposite direction, the wedges, as well as the sectors, will be drawn inwardly.

In erecting and packing the hogshead,

' the twostave sections are partly separated and then the bottom sections are forced downwardly until they} .completely spread 1 the stavestructure and are located in aline ment, asshownin'F-ig. 11. In thus forcing the b o ttoin' -sections downwardly, the attendantimay apply the power (preferably by standing or jumping), upon the up wardly projecting free ends of the; cleats 23. When the. bottom sections are being thus forced downwardly it will: be seen that the free ends of these. cleats project'upwardly .in opposite directions and serve the function-of a series of levers, whereby a considerable force can be applied, to the end that the hogshead will be distended under considerable pressure, thus very strongly bracingthe bottom of the hogshead. It will be obseryed also that by thus fastening these lever cleats upon the inner face of the bottom secrangenientrshown and described, I have been able to exert great power in looking the head in the grooves, thus fully expanding the'hogshead at the upper end thereof by flexible metal hoops under powerful tension. Thus, when the bottom and the head are thus extended, it will be seen that the hogshead is thoroughly braced and is of such great strength that it can be heavily loaded and transported without injury.

I have. especially designed my hogshead for the transportation of leaf tobacco, which is packed into the hogshead with a very heavy pressure and, therefore, requires that the hogshead shall be very strongly braced in every direction. In unpacking leaf tobacco, the head is first removed by drawing in the wedges in the manner set forth; and the hogshead 1s lnverted, whereupon by simply expandingthe stave structure by swinging the levers j outwardly, the hogshead may be lifted off the mass of tobacco,

leavin the mass standin 011 the floor unin- I b a b o ured and undisturbed by the unpacking operations.

To indicate to the attendant where the wedges are expanded to their fullest extent, I have. attached to one of the wedges the spring clip a and arranged the same so as to overlap the top disk f, this disk being provided with a pin. 6 which isv in tended to extend into a hole in the clip Z) when the wedges are projected. Any other suitable means may be employed for thus indicating the. position of the wedges. The link hinges 8 provide for the necessary lost motion between the stave structure and the bottom in order that the stave structure maybe swung away from the bottom a limited distance, this distance being just sufficient to free the mass of tobacco or other material from the stave structure to permit the stave structure to be lifted off the mass when it is inverted. It will be observed also that when the stave structure is thus expanded, the levers 7' will not be disconnected from the links it but will be connected thereto by reason of the use of the'closed slot n. This is advantageous in that it prevents the two halves of the stave structure separating from the spacing staves b, and thus contributes to ease of handling and tends to lessen injury during transportation.

l Vhen it is collapsed, it will be seen that the two halves of the stave structure straighten out and form the opposite sides of the box-like structure, the two other sides of this structure being formed by spacing staves t, as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9. The bottom sections fold into this box-like structure and serve to brace and support its longer sides, as shown in Fig. 8. As thus collapsed, it will be seen that the hogshead occupies but a small space and thus renders it easily packed and shipped. The box-like structure, together with the inclosing therein of the bottom sections, insures against breakage in the rough handling incident to transportation and, as shown by dotted lines at the top of Fig. 7, the head may be inserted partly into one end of the box-like structure for convenience in packing and shipping.

As contributing to safety in transporting the collapsed structure, it will be seen that the large walls of the box-like structure are flexible when collapsed.

It is obvious that the features of my invention may be embodied in stave structures of smaller dimensions'than hogsheads, such as barrels. Therefore, it will be understood that my claims are not limited to hogsheads.

It will be observed that a feature of importance in my structure is the employment of a single vertical link at each joint in each hoop where it crosses the joint between a main stave a and the special or spacing stave Z. It will be observedthat each link connects the main part 0 of each hoop to the short part d (or i) affixed to the special or spacing stave, and that the horizontal bars of the link extend across the joint between said staves, the vertical bars of the link serving as the pintles, whose axes are set back a distance from the joint between said joint between the staves. With this construction the links as well as the short straps cl and i are brought into the direct circumferential line of tension of the hoops, thereby enabling the link connections to withstand very heavy strains without tending to twist the links orpull ofi the short straps (Z and z" and also all tendency to disaline the special stave Z2 when the stave structure is spread and filled. A further advantage is that these link connections give an ease and freedom of movement which insures the closing of the jointsbetween the special stave and the adjacent staves whether the structure be opened out or be collapsed, as shown in Fig. 8, the links when the strucnecting said adjacent edges of the main sections, a removable top or head, and a bottom, and lost-motlon means connect ng said bottom to the maln sectlons, these connectl ing means being so constructed as to permit the main sections to have an outward movement independently of the bottom when the main sections are expanded in the 'manner set forth.

2. A receptacle consisting of a collapsible stave structure, a removable head, a bottom consisting of sections hinged to the stave structure and to each other and adapted to swing inwardly into the stave structure, and cleat bars each rigidly fastened at one end to the inner face of one of said sections and having its unattached end extending across the joint between the sections, whereby the free end portions of said cleats may be used as levers in spreading the sections of the bottom and whereby also the weight of the contents of the receptacle will aid in holding the sections spread.

3. In combination, a removable head, an expansible and contractible stave structure, a bottom constructed of hinged sections adapted to fold inwardly, and link hinges connecting said sections to the stave structure, the link hinges permitting the stave structure to be expanded without disconnecting the same from the bottom.

4:. In combination, a stave structure and means whereby its diameter may be ex panded and contracted a limited distance, said means forming a permanent connection between the parts of the stave structure, whereby the stave structure may be expanded without disconnecting its adjacent edges, the bottom consisting of sections hinged together. and adapted to fold inwardly, and link hinges connecting said sections to the stave structure.

5. A collapsible receptacle, consisting of a stave structure comprising two main sections and two spacing staves forming end walls when the structure is collapsed, the other two walls being formed by said main sections, the inner corners of the main sections as well as the spacing staves being correspondingly beveled, a removable head, a sectional bottom hinged to the said main sections and adapted to fold into the boxlike receptacle formed by said mainsections connected to the hoop sections, for the pur- 10 and said spacing staves,- flexible hoops conposes set forth.

necting the staves of saidmain sections and In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my additional short hoop sections attached to signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

the spacin staves and links connecting the T adjacent ehdsof said hoops, each of said JOHN GORMA1\' links extendingacross oneof the joints be- Witnesses: tween the spacing stave and the adjacent W. J. MCDANIEL, stave of the main sectionand'being pivotally Tnos. SMITH.

Copies ofthis patentmay be-obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner oflatents, Washington, D. C. 

